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Geek Squad gets daft
US COMPUTER repair outfit Geek Squad seems to think it can get people to pay for anything, or rather, nothing.
The outfit's latest service is for those technology challenged punters who have bought one of those newfangled ebook readers and is called "Ebook Device Setup".
According to Consumerist, the $30 service is for a Nook ebook or Sony Reader. It promises to turn the thing on, er, "provide a functionality check" and show you how to read, er, "what to expect when you take the device home".
Ebooks are probably the simplest technology to operate so really if you can't turn one on or use it to read, you are probably the living reason why airline attendants need to explain how to get the seat belt on and off.
True, for the money Geek Squad does offer to install any updates for you, but really that is a little automatic too.
At this rate they will be offering a range of services for television users such as how to turn on your telly and change the channel. Still it does give Geek Squad operatives a chance to lord it over those who don't have opposable thumbs or two functioning neurons to rub together. µ
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If you see nothing wrong with companies advertising they can fix your computer problem and then send out some half-wit that doesn't perform basic trouble shooting (and checking the printer spooler is step #1) and then charges you for their employees incompetence then I have some moon cheese to sell you.
time = money so who pays for my time wasted when they can't fix it?? :)
i personally pay for a service, not for time wasted. if i go to see a doctor, i don't go until i already know what i need and when i get there, i expect to recieve the prescription i've already chosen for myself. if i don't recieve the prescription, i don't pay and i don't go back to that doctor. truth be told, prescriptions i usually choose for myself, i usually get from the vet for my "cow" and i rarely ever waste time on a doc.
as for lawyers, they are all crooks.
@Michael
I don't see the problem.If some guy comes out and attempts to fix your granny's problem , regardless of result , time = money.
A doctor will charge you if you live or die and so will you lawyer.
I don't see the problem with this one.
If someone is too challenged to do something , they call someone who isn't.
A lawyer will charge you just for talking to them on the phone for 30 seconds and so will your doctor(at least in Germany they will)
So if someone is asking someone for a service , however trivial , time = money, or do it yourself.
On a business trip to Boston last summer I went to my Aunt's house and she proceeded to tell me how Geek Squad came out and couldn't fix her printer after messing around for an hour and charging her $60+ to shrug their shoulders and leave. Being in IT for 10 years I sat down, brought up the printer job list and deleted a bad print job that was in there for 2 months. To hear my aunt spend 20 minutes cussing about Geek Squad in her thick Bostonian Jewish accent was payment enough.
My Father-in-laws laptop needed a warranted hinge repair. They told him the machine had 800 viruses and needed a tune up for $150. They also persuaded him to by an external drive and pay an extra $50 for them to back up the hard drive in case they ****ed up the process.
This was strange as it had spybot and AVG fully patched. Turns out the 'viruses' were tracker cookies and the 'tuneup' was just deleting most of the desktop icons.